Symptoms
- Chords and octaves sound sour or 'wavy' a few days after the move
- Some notes drifted much more than others
- Unisons (the two or three strings of one note) beat against each other
- The pitch keeps changing for the first couple of weeks
Likely causes
A new climate
Your new room has different humidity and temperature. The soundboard absorbs or loses moisture, its crown changes, and that raises or lowers the pitch unevenly across the keyboard.
Temperature shock during transport
Hours in a hot truck or a cold stairwell make strings and the iron plate expand and contract. This alone rarely ruins a tuning, but it adds to the drift.
Knocks and tilting
Tipping the piano on its side or a hard drop can disturb tuning pins or the action, especially on older pianos with worn pinblocks.
It was already overdue
If the piano wasn't tuned for a long time before the move, the move simply makes an existing problem obvious.
What you can safely check yourself
- 1Place the piano against an inner wall, away from windows, AC vents, radiators and direct sun.
- 2Put a hygrometer near the piano and aim for a stable 40–50% relative humidity.
- 3Wait about 2–4 weeks before booking the tuning so the instrument settles in its new room.
- 4Play every key gently and note any that stick, stay silent or feel different — tell the technician.
- 5Check that the piano stands level and steady and that the pedals still engage.
What not to do
- Don't tune it the day after the move — the tuning won't hold while the wood is still adjusting.
- Never try to turn tuning pins yourself with pliers or a wrench.
- Don't park it next to an air conditioner or heater to 'dry it out' faster.
Quick fixes vs. call a pro
You can usually handle it
- Choosing a stable spot away from vents and sun
- Monitoring humidity with a hygrometer
- Noting sticky or silent keys
- Waiting for the piano to acclimatize
Call a technician
- Tuning once the piano has settled
- A pitch raise if it dropped far below A440
- Fixing keys or pedals knocked loose in transport
- Checking the pinblock if the tuning won't hold
What a technician will do
After the piano has settled, a technician measures how far the pitch has moved. A normal tuning takes about 1–1.5 hours; if the piano dropped well below A440 it needs a pitch raise first, sometimes with a second fine tuning a few weeks later. Any keys or pedals disturbed in the move are adjusted during the same visit.
A piano holds about 18–20 tonnes of string tension. If a fix means opening the action, turning tuning pins or working near the strings, leave it to a technician.
In Israel
Moving between the coast and Jerusalem or the Negev means a big change in humidity, so expect a larger drift than a move within the same city. Moves involving narrow stairwells or a crane add more risk of knocks — mention it to the technician.